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Getting accepted was the easy part...

I actually just responded to a PM about how I got accepted to school and figured my advice might help others who may be working on GPA damage control like I did (although mine was pretty mild).

I ended up taking all the prereqs as well as the recommended courses to help boost my undergrad GPA of 3.3. In the end, I took intro to biochem and organic chem, intro to physics, and the advanced patho class. I also retook statistics to update my grade from 10 years ago. All online, one class per semester including summers over 2 years, all A's. They brought my GPA up to a solid 3.5 and I ended up getting interviews at all 3 CRNA schools I applied to.

Looking back, many who've gotten in all say what I'm feeling now: there's not much secret into getting accepted, and the planning process once you're in is definitely more stressful than applying. I start next month and am more stressed with moving to another state and getting all my finances ready for the 3 year program. All you really need to get an interview is:

1. 2+ Years of ICU experience with very sick patients (Level I Trauma or large hospitals)
2. GPA>3.4 and with A's in most/all of the prereqs (grad level classes are an optional bonus)
3. CCRN
4. GRE scores in the 50th percentile (seriously, you just have to score "average")
5. A few shifts shadowing a CRNA (multiple CRNA's in different practice settings is better)
6. 3 Letters of recommendation
7. A few leadership activities to talk about: Relief Charge, Code Blue team, Committee work, etc.

That's basically it. Anything more than these things is all just bonus stuff for you to talk about during your interview. Honestly, the hardest part is getting the letters of rec and bugging people to submit them electronically when you submit your application. Everything else you have complete control over (I guess that's my type-A talking haha).

The interviews aren't too bad. You'll be your biggest enemy as your stress level will determine how well you do. I knew this about myself and approached it with some old words of wisdom: getting an interview means you're "in", now they're just seeing if you can talk yourself out of it. None of my programs asked clinical questions but I know some do. They just ask typical personality interview questions (conflict resolution, ability to lead, dealing with stress, etc.) but more than anything, they watch how you're handling the interview stress. All eyes are on you at the interview table, which is very similar to the role you'll have as a CRNA; you need to be able to stay calm as a leader of the OR team when poo hits the fan. You'll often be running the show when an emergency happens, not the Surgeon. So definitely understand what CRNA's do, both as an independent provider of anesthesia and as an OR team leader. Start practicing your speech as to why you want to be a CRNA. We all know the money component is there, and so does the interview panel. They just want to see if you can talk about the other fun reasons to become a CNRA lol.